I picked up a Bulldog 2.0 off Newegg since my prior Gigabyte GB-GZ1DTI7-1070-NK while small (10L) got very loud and hot while gaming, plus it wasn't that up gradable down the line. The Bulldog (20L) is double of the volume compared to my old Brix GT system, but that volume allows for an AIO liquid cooler for the CPU, better air flow, and the option for a liquid cooled GPU w/ a 120 mm radiator or just a 120 mm fan w/ an air based card. While the Bulldog is a compact design I would not consider it small by any means. On the bottom of the motherboard is the m.2 slot but can only be accessed via removing the motherboard. This is a bit of a hassle and adding or removing a m.2 would have been easier if Corsair created an access bay underneath the motherboard to begin with. Cable management wise the thing is a mess, I would recommend getting a bunch of zip ties to tidy things up after your build.

Being my first build I had 2 initial problems. Since I had to remove the motherboard to install the m.2 the bottom AIO bracket came undone so when I went to screw down the cooler it would not work. I had take out the motherboard again and push the bottom bracket back in. When I powered on the system nothing happened, I was worried that the motherboard or power supply might have been defective. I did notice the ram LEDs were not on. I reinstalled the ram and nothing happened. When I pushed slightly down on the ram the LEDs would come on. So I took out the ram again and pressed very hard when installing it until I heard a click and bingo it worked. I have installed countless amounts of ram but never have I ever had to press this hard.

I picked the EVGA 1080 Ti because I wanted a no compromise system that could do 4K in the future, but for now I am running games on ultra on a 3440x1440 100HZ monitor. I went with EVGA because it was available and the cheapest. Also they have great customer service. I also picked this card since the SC2 Hybrid is one of the smaller liquid cooled cards at 4.38" in height. Whether you go with the Sea Hawk or the SC2 Hybrid the fit is super tight, doable but tight. When I installed the GPU the first time I managed to scrape the face of the card and the radiator pretty bad, but fortunately the card had a defective fan and I was able to RMA it and do a cross ship. Not wanting to be deducted for the damage I just sold the card for MSRP disclosing the damages and defective fan to the buyer (miner). The 2nd time around I taped the radiator and a couple of the screws inside the case so no cosmetic damage could occur. I remembered to install the radiator first and to install the tubes going underneath the card. The 1st time I have the tubes going above the card like I saw in a few builds but since the hard drive tray sits so closely to the card the tubes get squished a little and there was tension on the tubes and the pump.

Gaming wise both the CPU and GPU never go above 60 degrees, which is a huge improvement over my Brix GT system where the CPU while gaming was anywhere from 70-80 degrees and the GPU was always at 79-80 degrees. Sound wise the fans and pumps are audible at idle but remain at constant volume even when gaming and don't sound like a pair of hair dryers like my Brix GT. A few people have mentioned swapping out the provided fans that come with the Bulldog and for the EVGA SC2 Hybrid swapping out the fan and plugging it into the motherboard. For me the system is quiet enough and a huge improvement over my old system. The included 600 watt power supply has no problem powering the 1080 Ti even when overclocked.

Overall I am very happy with the system. The only nitpick I have with the system is that my case has some panel gaps on the left side and that the front has this fingerprint prone piano black plastic. I like how the system is very up gradable so down the line I can change the motherboard to upgrade to a better chip set.